It is known to provide very large numbers of plants for certain types of jobs such as, for example, planting alongside long stretches of roads and freeways. For such jobs, the plants may be provided in a number of ways such as by way of cuttings, by seeds, by tissue culture, or by division/splitting. However, the applicant has identified that the use of cuttings is not possible for many plants and may be expensive; the use of seeds may provide too great variation in plant type/appearance; division/splitting may require a significant amount of labour, and tissue culture may be prohibitively expensive. However, the applicant has identified that while tissue culture may be an expensive method for growing young embryonic plants, it is beneficial in that it guarantees the most uniformity in the plants grown which is advantageous in large jobs where uniformity of appearance is desired, such as in planting alongside long stretches of freeway roads. Also, the applicant has identified that the growing of plants by using tissue culture enables the plants to be grown in a sterile environment such that the plants can be taken between countries without being quarantine being required, whereas growing plants in soil may be prohibited or result in quarantine for an extended period.
The ability to transport plants between countries when sterile enables the plants to be originated in a different country from the end market, for example in a laboratory where labour is cheaper. However the applicant has identified that there exists a problem in that the sterile plants need to be transplanted in the destination country, that with existing methods this transplanting needs to be done manually, and that this is expensive in view of the manual labour required in the destination country which is typically a country of high labour cost.
Examples of the invention seek to provide an improved apparatus and method for growing and transplanting young plants which overcomes or at least alleviates disadvantages associated with existing apparatus and methods.